Yesterday, March 3rd, was "Super Tuesday," the day on which voters cast their ballots in presidential primaries in 16 states. As I have in previous elections, I served as an "Officer of Election" at my local precinct, rotating among various jobs to help ensure a safe, honest, and accurate tally.
As I have many times before, I came away impressed with the thoroughness of the preparations, the professionalism of my fellow Election Officers, and the intricate, interlocking measures to prevent fraud and error. Here are a few of my comments on what I observed at our local precinct yesterday and what it all means in the long run.
1. Turnout. We had a turnout of about 30% of registered voters ... not too bad, given Americans' abysmal rates of voter participation, but - given the stakes in this year's presidential election - a bit disappointing.
2. The Participants. Virginia had only a Democratic Primary, because the Republicans intend to canonize Der Furor by other means. But Virginia election law provides for open primaries, meaning that any registered voter, regardless of party affiliation, can vote in any primary for any candidate. There'd been some discussion of Republicans voting in large numbers in a "spoiler" action to skew the results toward a candidate they perceive easier to beat in the general election, but I didn't see any overt evidence of that happening. We did have one voter who came in wearing a bright red MAGA hat, but that's silly and not illegal.
3. Security vs Certainty. We had one voter who delivered a long and heated lecture to our Precinct Chief, demanding to know what Virginia was doing to make sure that he could be absolutely certain that his vote for his candidate was properly recorded. He insisted that in order to be fair and accurate, there must be a way to track the ballot cast by a specific individual to provide proof that the vote had been tallied to that individual's desired candidate. The Chief did a good job of explaining election law and the concept of the secret ballot while acknowledging that any voting system requires a certain level of trust on the part of the voters. The secret ballot is one of the things that separates our election system from those of dictatorships, which are designed to ensure a desired result by ensuring that voters cast their ballots for the approved candidate. Nobody needs to know for whom I voted, or for whom you voted ... and if you aren't concerned about the implications of a president with an overtly authoritarian philosophy having the ability to find out exactly how you voted and punish you if you voted the wrong way, you have a problem I can't fix. I place 100% of the blame for lack of trust in our elections on the Republican Party, which has spent decades undermining the authority and integrity of government at all levels and spreading wild conspiracy theories about "rigged elections."
4. You Can't Fix Stupid. We have two precincts that vote at the same local elementary school. Usually, one sets up in the gym and the other in the cafeteria, but this time we were both shoehorned into the gym. The precincts were set up on opposite sides of the gym, and a row of bright orange codes linked with bright orange tape ran down the middle of the room to keep them separate. It was a bit cozy, but there was still plenty of room ... the problem came when we tried to make sure that people stayed within their own precinct. For purposes of making sure all the numbers balance for each precinct (number of voters checked in = number of ballots issued = number of ballots scanned and recorded), it's important that people stay in their own precinct. Nevertheless, all day long we had people who would check in, get their ballots, then go to the opposite side of the room to mark and scan their ballots. We caught most of them, but in the end, the total for each precinct was off by two ballots - one of us over by two and the other under by two. The reason for this was clear, and was carefully documented in the official notes kept by each Precinct Chief, but if those errors are later seen individually and out of context, I think you can see people who are looking for irregularities pouncing on them as proof of insidious corruption. I should also note that EVERY PERSON we intercepted and steered back to the correct side of the room said that we should have put up signs to eliminate confusion ... despite the fact that they'd had to STEP OVER ROWS OF BRIGHT ORANGE CONES CONNECTED BY BRIGHT ORANGE TAPE to get to the wrong side. You can't fix stupid.
5. The Results. I won't comment on the results other than to say that I fear the Democrats are on the way to helping Der Furor gain another four years to continue his campaign to Keep America Terrible. If Joe Biden is the eventual candidate, the GOP will spend the entire election (and the next four years should he win) screaming about Ukraine, Burisma, and other manufactured crises (ignoring the documented fraud and mendacity of Der Furor's clique). If Bernie Sanders is the eventual candidate, the GOP will spend the entire election (and the next four years should he win) screaming about the ghastly evils of socialism while ignoring their own evils. In a nation of over 300 million people, you'd think we could do better than candidates like Der Furor, Biden, and Sanders.
That's it for now. If you live in a Super Tuesday state, I hope you went out and voted. If your state's primary hasn't happened yet, be sure you go out and vote when it does. And by all means, make sure you vote in November. The stakes have seldom been higher.
Have a good day. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
